CALIFORNIA BUS TRIP DRIVES HARD BARGAIN.

Byline: Ralph Shaffer Local View

With gasoline again nearing $3 a gallon, local transit agencies are touting the bus as a cheap, quick and energy-saving solution to the high cost of fuel. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority now runs a "limited" from downtown to LAX. Express lines cross both valleys. The glory days of public transit last seen during gas rationing in World War II seem to have returned. But not entirely.

Encouraged by government subsidizes at the fare box, regional transportation districts have sprouted up in recent years. Dozens of cities, counties and special districts run buses. A careful examination of their schedules reveals that an intrepid bus rider could travel from the Mexican border to the Bay Area without having to take Greyhound, Amtrak, hail a cab or fly. Imagine, all the way to Oakland by municipal bus.

I'm a bus nut. In 1978, I pioneered the route via local buses from Los Angeles to Tijuana, with a dozen transfers over 12 hours, all for a mere $3 and change about three cents a mile. In the mid-1980s, I rode over 400 miles in one day around the L.A. Basin aboard RTD buses on a dollar pass a quarter-cent per mile. At those rates, commuting to Oakland on municipal buses ought to save a pocketful of money.

Finding the right connections is more challenging than the Daily News' Sunday crossword; solving the route maze more satisfying than finishing U's cryptogram.

We leave Union Station on an early Monday afternoon aboard Antelope Valley Transit, transferring at Lancaster to the East Kern Express. At Bakersfield, find a motel, for long- distance regional transit's a daylight operation.

Tuesday: Zigzagging back and forth across the San Joaquin Valley on a 12-hour, five-transfer itinerary gets us to Avenal at dinnertime. Plan ahead: AAA lists just one motel in Avenal.

Wednesday we leave early for Huron, make two transfers in Fresno, and reach the Children's Hospital in Madera County at lunchtime, then on to Chowchilla for dinner.

Day Four: Here's where the system really breaks down. Perhaps jealously guarding their borders or reluctant to encourage residents to shop in a rival city, Neither Madera nor Merced transit systems cross the county line dividing them. Nor will their dial-a-ride service take a passenger to the border.

Thus, after an overnight stay in Chowchilla, we hoof it eight miles up Minturn Road to Le Grand, catch the bus to Merced, transfer to Livingston, then Turlock, then Modesto.

Instead of leapfrogging from city to city through the Delta region, we take the late afternoon Modesto Area Express to Dublin/Pleasanton. Then north via bus to Walnut Creek and a motel at Martinez.

From here on it's easy! Ride out of Martinez on Friday morning to El Cerrito, where we catch an AC local to downtown Oakland.

Total fare? A shade under $60, plus four motels and meals for five days. The discount airline can match that price and save nearly a week. Even Amtrak looks more attractive. At $3 a gallon, gas would be less than bus fare, and you wouldn't have to find a bed for four nights.

So, considering the cost, inordinate amount of time required, and the debilitating effect of five days jostling along on local buses, why make the trip?